


Champion's Vacation

by SamBan



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29276454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamBan/pseuds/SamBan
Summary: My submission for the 2021 Chocolate Box fic exchange.Being champion is tough and doesn't leave much time for a personal life. Gloria decided to take a vacation to help with that.
Relationships: Hop/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	1. Departure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nightmoonz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightmoonz/gifts).



Hop never knew what to do in situations like this.

It seemed like half of Wedgeherst had turned into a block party. Stores were closing for the occasion. Venders had thrown up food carts, fully intending on capitalizing on the gorgeous weather. Dozens of news outlets gathered, the reporters talking amongst themselves excitedly. And it was all for her.

Champion Gloria.

It was honestly amazing, the way the world seemed to shape itself around her. The moment she chose Scorbunny as her starter, it was like she became a different person. It was an aura of untouchability. A level of competence that only existed in fairy tales.

If it was just that though, he could have accepted it. The untouchable Leon was his brother after all. He could handle that. It didn’t even bother him that after becoming champion she had gone on to be the undisputed battle tower champion with a one hundred unbroken win streak. Or that she had traveled to Sinnoh and battled their legend to a draw.

What he couldn’t handle was what she wasn’t. She was no longer the girl next door that he played tag with on the weekends. What were you supposed to do when the girl you’ve known and have been friends with your entire life turned into a legend?

Were you supposed to just accept that you weren’t good enough to stay in their life?

The crowds began cheering as a taxi came into view. He chuckled at the sight. As champion, she could travel in as much style as she wanted, but she willingly chose to travel in one of the most mundane ways available to her. It was just like her.

She waved from the taxi as it was lowered into the streets, and the media swarmed her, pushing all the normal people away from her. They wasted no time firing off questions at mach speed.

“You have said you were going to announce your next adventure soon Ms. Champion. Why do it here at Wedgeherst?”  
“You have revolutionized the nature of competitive battling. Can you explain how you approach battles?”  
“People know you for your battle prowess, but you are also a master breeder. Can you explain some of the things you do to guarantee champion level pokemon?”

She gave them all a giant smile and held out a pokeball.

“Get out of my face you paparazzi scavengers before I force you out of it. If I wanted a press conference I would have called you. Now leave and let me enjoy my vacation.”

They all looked at each other in shock, and she raised an eyebrow.

“If I have to ask again, I’ll have Dracovish ask. And let's just say he is much less polite than I am.”

They looked at each other in panic and began dismantling their equipment, causing her to giggle. The citizens seemed to take all this in good spirit and moved in past the media to congratulate her on some achievement or another. She took all these compliments with grace, talking informally with the people of the town she grew up in like nothing had ever changed. He smiled at the scene. She really was born for this.

She looked through the crowd until her eyes landed on him and waved. He blinked in surprise before waving back. The crowd parted as she made her way to him.

The two stood in front of each other for a second, in silence before he chuckled nervously.

“How’s it going champ?”

She crossed her arms with a frown.

“How come you weren’t in the front?” She asked.

He blinked. She wanted him in the front? How was he supposed to know that? With their busy schedule, they hadn’t seen each other in months.

“I wanted you to be able to relax now that you’re back,” He apologized. She rolled her eyes.

“Then why are you making it so hard?”

He laughed, his confidence returning. ”Sorry, I know I can be as annoying as those reporters sometimes. I guess I just wanted to give you the option of who to spend your time with.”

“Well, I chose,” She said decisively, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the crowd towards the train station.

“Wait, are we going somewhere?” He asked in shock. “I thought this was a vacation? Don’t you mean to stay for a little while?”

She let go of his hand and walked backward, trusting him to follow as she grinned.

“Oh, some intern leaked my schedule, it just showed that I was coming here and then nothing. The media jumped the gun and made some assumptions, like always. Besides, we are the champion and the runner up! When it comes to people like us, a good old fashioned adventure IS a vacation! Let's just take the first train and see where we end up!”

He laughed and nodded, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess you’re right. I have missed being outside after all the studying I’ve been doing.” He grinned and looked at her. It was like old times again. Sneaking out of doing chores to climb trees and ride the wooloo around the farms. Except for this time she was taking the lead.

His smile became mischievous, and before she could respond, he pushed her and sprinted for the station.

“Last one there is a rotten Exeggcute!”

They laughed together as they engaged in just one more rivalry.

* * *

“Ooh, did you hear that Tommy tried to sneak a Furret past customs?!”

“Oh, my god did he? Next thing you know he’s going to try to get a Bagon off the black market.”

“Yeah, that sounds just like him. It's like the one time he tried to keep a Wooloo under his bed. He managed a week somehow. I heard his mum only caught him because of the smell.”

Gloria wasn’t sure the last time she had a genuine laugh with another person, but it felt like ages. People thought that being a champion meant being able to do whatever you wanted, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Handling the press and her public image, battling the endless waves of challengers, handling her tournament appearances, writing and delivering speeches at conferences and schools, each was a full-time job in their own right. Doing all that while continuing her team’s training, keeping up with the latest in competitive strategies, and theory crafting her own tricks, she wasn’t sure how she found time to eat, let alone sleep.

But it was the nature of being at the top of the game. Her life was about getting results now. One slip up was all it would take for her to lose her title. Up and coming trainers could smell weakness from a mile away, and would pounce at any weakness she had. Not that she blamed them. She had to do the same to strip Leon of his title after all. She had chosen this life and everything that came with it.

That all seemed like another life though. Sitting on the train in a private compartment with her childhood friend, talking about pointless things, feet tapping along with an overplayed pop song, on the train to an unknown destination, she felt like she finally woke up from a dream.

She couldn’t help but be reminded of the start of their adventure. It had been like this at that time. Just the two of them together, taking their first steps into the unknown. Now that she thought of it, this might have been the same train they had taken back then. Maybe even the same compartment.

She laughed to herself. That was ridiculous. The world didn’t work that way.

“Something funny?” Hop asked. She shook her head.

“Just remembering. Things don’t really change that much do they?”

He smiled. “Yeah, I think I know what you mean. You’d think we’d have more interesting things to talk about than Tommy after all this time, huh?”

She shook her head. “No, I like it better this way.”

Hop looked to the window with a slight blush, and his eyes immediately widened.

“Wow, it’s really bad outside, isn’t it? It’s going to be quite a camping trip.”

She looked and smiled. The train was being assaulted by an avalanche of snow that blocked any sort of visibility.

“Bring any fire types?” She asked. “Seems like it might be a bit chilly outside.”

“Nope, just my standard team.”

"Oh, seems like we're going to have to share a campfire then."

He rolled his eyes. “You know I had my own adventure right? I’d be fine on my own.”

She giggled. “Sure, but this is supposed to be a vacation. I’m going to make us a shelter that screams luxury. Just make sure we have a meal to match it.”

He gave an enthusiastic thumbs up. “If that’s my job, expect a five-star meal.”

“I look forward to it.”

as a voice announced their destination over the intercom:

The Crown Tundra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that part two is taking so long, so as a little something for anyone who is checking up or re-reading, here is Gloria's current team: https://pokepast.es/773b46e23648852f
> 
> I play quite a bit of VGC, so this team is both totally viable for competitive and is a pretty good representation of her and the region she represents.


	2. Chapter 2

Hop pulled his jacket in closer as he trudged through the snow. Behind him, his Rillaboom was carrying sacks of berries and mushrooms that they had gathered. He was having his pokemon take shifts between warming up in the pokeballs and carrying the food. With night approaching, the blizzard was becoming increasingly dangerous, and without a way to warm himself up, he needed to keep his hands as warm as possible to use pokeballs in case of an emergency.

“Just a little bit longer,” He told his pokemon with a smile. “Gloria should have had enough time to set up a shelter by now. Then we can get a fire going and finally get to eat all this food!”

Rillaboom nodded, making a point to ignore the cold. It clearly affected him. There was no way for it to not, considering there was already an inch of snow covering the leaves on his back. But he wanted to be strong for his trainer. Hop smiled at the sight. He wouldn’t give up his team for the world.

As they made it over a hill, a light glowed in the distance. “That must be her,” He said, relief rushing through him. “Looks like she made an igloo, seems she wasn’t kidding about luxury. It's seriously the best we could hope for here.”

He pulled his hands out of his pockets, breathing into them until they could feel. Rillaboom handed over the collected food in silent understanding. Hop didn’t want his team to be colder than necessary, and now that he was safely within distance of Gloria’s help he could afford to keep them warm inside their balls.

The rest of the walk might have been cold and alone, but every step towards the light seemed warmer than the last. Every step was one step closer to his goal. Each time his boot crunched its way through the snow, every second he felt like he was going to fall over frozen, it was a step despite the hardships.

He felt his face split into a grin. She was right. Adventure was something people like them couldn’t live without.

He reached the ice structure in high spirits, and briefly admired her craftsmanship before crawling his way through the entrance.

“The brave hunter-gatherer has arrived!” Hop shouted through the tunnel, alerting her to his presence. He doubted he would walk in on anything, but that wasn’t a risk he was willing to take. 

“Oh no!” he heard her voice call back “Quick, whimsicott, hide the drugs!” 

He rolled his eyes at her antics, emerging into the opening with a smile. It was surprisingly roomy, allowing him to even stand up fully. A small fire was crackling in the center of the room. Judging by the ash under the current sticks it had been burning for a while. She tilted her head at him.

“How much are you going to be eating?” She asked. “There is no way we are going to get through that whole bag, even if we feed some to our pokemon.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t know how long we were going to be out here, so I figured I’d get as much of the work as possible done upfront. That way we can spend the rest of our time having fun. This should last us a week at least!”

She pursed her lips. “A week?”

Hop felt his smile fade away at the sudden tone shift. “Uhh, yeah, a week. Give or take. On second thought, I didn’t factor in any pokemon we might catch. That might have been my bad.”

She sighed. “Thanks, but there is no way I can stay out here for a week. I was planning on pushing it and staying until the day after tomorrow.”

He blinked in surprise. “So… you dragged me out into the crown tundra, no warning, promising adventure, and we aren’t even adventuring for a week?”

Gloria shrunk a little at that, and he scratched the back of his head with a sigh. “Oh, come on, don’t look so down, I’m still happy we’re doing it. And don’t get me wrong, I’ll drop my life at a moment’s notice for ya any time you ask. I just wish I got to spend more time with you.”

She avoided looking at him for a moment before motioning to the fire. “Can you please sit down?”

He frowned. This was totally unlike her. He complied regardless and sat across the fire from her.

“I’m sorry I don’t have more time for you,” she said after a moment of silence. “I really wish I did.”

“Hey, you’re the champion, I get it,” He brushed off. “You don’t have time for people back home. You’re a symbol of hope now. It’s nothing personal, and I don’t take it that way. Heck, I’m just honored you chose me to spend your time off with. People would pay a fortune to spend an hour with you..”

“You don’t get it at all,” She said quietly. “I can’t afford to take this time off.”

“What? But, I mean you are though.”

“And I’m going to regret it later.” She shook her head. “I mean, I won’t, but… Well, time off isn’t in the job description of being the best. If you slack off just a little everything falls apart. Don’t get me wrong, I love the excitement, but it’s stressful. Really stressful.”

He chuckled a little, and she glared at him. “Sorry, I just never saw you as stressed before. It’s kind of weird. I’ve never seen you not be able to do anything.”

“I lost to Dawn.”

He felt like he had been gut-punched. “I… excuse me?”

“I lost to Dawn, the Sinnoh champion. She had an Empoleon. An Empoleon.” Her arms were beginning to wave in frustration. “Who uses an Empoleon? What even hits a water steel type? The best I could do was high jump kick it with Cinderace, and guess what? She had a Mega Lopunny, keep in mind it’s illegal to even own a mega stone in our region, and she used it to follow me so Empoleon outsped me and it dodged the kick with dive. DIVE. I didn’t just lose, I got styled on! Just… UGH!” She grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at the side of the igloo in frustration. “The fight was fixed though. Of course it was. She threw the fight and made it look like a draw. After the fight she even explained it. All the regions had to be seen as equals. Since I was new she cut me some slack. She said, I had a lot of potential and once I had been in the position for a couple years she’d fight me seriously. Years!”

She pulled her knees into her chest. “I’ve… Never lost before. I’ve never even considered it. I beat your brother within a year of starting my journey. But the thing is, apparently that’s not that even that special. Red, Ethan, May, Dawn, Hilda, Calem, and Elio all did the same thing with their champions. And more have gotten close, only stopped by them. The world is SO big, and no matter how good I am, I’m not the strongest. I might not ever be. I just happened to be the first in the region to hit that top level of competition. And then suddenly I was looking in my region. How long until someone new from my region beat me? Bede has been aiming for the jugular since we met. Marnie might be a friend, but she wouldn’t hesitate to steal the title. What if it was some eleven year old setting out on their journey right now? Would everything crumble down around me?

“And then I started thinking about why that would bother me. Not too long ago I would have never even imagined this life. So why was the idea of losing it so scary? And after a lot of consideration, I came to the conclusion it was… you.”

His mind had already gone blank, but at that a wave of nausea hit him. He had never seen her like this, and he hated the sight with everything he had. How had he contributed to it? “What did I do?” He asked, astonished by how steady his voice was.

“You gave up. You started trying to be a researcher instead and let me carry the burden of your dreams.” Her voice was starting to shake. “I can stand losing. I really can. But I can’t stand letting you down too. If I wasn’t here you would have been champion. I stole that dream from you. I stole that dream from so many people. If I’m not the best, so many people’s dreams were crushed for nothing. And I did lose. And I….” She started choking up. “I don’t want you to hate me. You’re my best friend and I let you down.”

He moved around the fire, sitting next to her and she immediately fell into his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her as she started sniffling. He didn’t know what to do. No amount of introspection could have ever led him to think she felt this way. It was pretty stupid of him. The distance between them had grown exponentially as their paths diverged, and he had stopped thinking of her as who she was. She was the same age as he was. She was just as dumb as him. He looked into the fire in the middle of the room. After a moment he started laughing. She looked up at him in confusion, her tears somehow making her eyes look bigger. Did she have to look cute even now? He gave her the biggest smile he could. And then he just said the first thing that came to mind.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about how stupid it is to think that I might hate you.” Her crying began to mix with laughter, and he could feel her relaxing into his side more. Had he really forgotten she was just a girl his age? She had cried when she had rolled her ankle as a kid. She had looked so sad when she couldn’t play with other kids. She had always looked so happy when he left his other friends in the schoolyard to make sure she wasn’t alone. 

She might be the champion. She might be the most special person on the planet. But she was still human. She was still Gloria.

“I said I’d drop my life if you needed it,” Hop continued, “but that isn’t quite right. That makes it sound like you’re interrupting it. What I should have said is you take priority over everything else. I’m making a life without you, but that’s secondary to the time I spend with you. I didn’t give up, and I’m not standing at the sidelines. As a rival I’m one more threat. I realized I could help you more by becoming a researcher. I’m doing my best to help propel you to the top. This way I can be someone you can lean on and we can take on the world together. I’ve been with you from the start and I’ll be with you till the end.” 

He suddenly felt her wrap her arms around his waist and squeeze him. “Thank you.”

Hop held her tighter and the two fell into a comfortable silence. After a time he found himself yawning, but as he looked around realization dawned on him.

“Uhh, Gloria, did you make any beds?”

She face-palmed. “I knew I was forgetting something...”

He shrugged and released his Dubwool. His pokemon cocked it’s head upon seeing their embrace before nodding in approval. Hop felt a wave of embarrassment. Dubwool has been with him since he was a toddler, and had seen the two of them interact from the beginning. How long ago would he have approved of this?

Gloria pulled away, much to his disappointment, and ran her fingers through his pokemon’s wool with a smile.

“The famous Dubwool pillow? Reminds me of the old days where we would lay on your mum’s Wooloo out in the field and stargaze.” She giggled. “Gotta admit, I wasn’t expecting you to be this smooth.”

He looked at her in confusion before his eyes widened. “Oh, I wasn’t implying- I mean I can just sleep over there-”

“Hop?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already knew this was the case, but I am totally incapable of writing a one shot. 
> 
> Sorry the chapters are short, but they feel like natural stopping points. Its turning into a... Four shot? Idk, we'll see how things pan out. Hopefully you enjoy!
> 
> Oh, and I made Hop's team, because why not: https://pokepast.es/75c79db743745760 Gloria's team is also in the chapter notes for chapter 1.


End file.
